Beer Profile: Striaght to Ale’s Liberation Barleywine

Profiles by Ken Carman for professorgoodales.net

This is simply impressive: and very much what they claim. Maybe just a tad dark for the style, but otherwise… wow! Pinpoint bubble head that holds, with some pillow. A deep brown, I’d say “light raisin-like.” Clarity good.

Straight to Ale founders and brewmasters Dan Perry and Rick Tarvin went from making beer at home to doing it for a living in 2009 after winning a few home-brewing competitions. “We’ve always loved figuring out a recipe, then changing and perfecting it,” Dan says. “So after we won some awards, we got a little obsessed.”

Click

HERE

We now return you to your regular beer profile here at Professor Goodales…

Great full mouthfeel with nice sweet malt taste… yet actual body is medium. It’s the abv combined with carmelization. Carmelized malt up front in the nose with a hint of sweet. This barleywine has more of a malt focus, as an English Barleywine should be. Brown, with deep garnet highlights. Good clarity. Alcoholic punch lingers in mouthfeel.

Taste: toasty malt sweet with beautiful Brown malt that also has been carmelized. This is so good I could live off of it. There’s a great malt complexity here that offers so much for anyone who tries it: must have one hell of a grain bill. And for those who are hops adverse: not really all that hoppy: again, as expected since American barleywines are more hop focused.

I gave it 4. If I could: 4.7. Buy one. Or two. Or three.

Welcome to the PGA beer rating system: one beer “Don’t bother.” Two: Eh, if someone gives it to you, drink. Three: very good, go ahead and seek it out, but be aware there is at least one problem. Four: seek it out. Five: pretty much “prefecto.”